Was Jesus circumcised?

When we turn to the account of the birth of our Lord, as recounted in Luke 2, we note that Mary brought this smallest of offerings; a testimony to the poverty of Joseph and herself. We also note that our Lord was circumcised on the eighth day, according to the law, though there was no sinful flesh in Him to be "put off." This is in keeping with the fact of His baptism at the hands of John, thus fulfilling all righteousness, though He had no sins to confess, as had the people: in keeping also with the fact that He was carried down into Egypt, so that, retracing Israel's history, it might be said of Him, "Out of Egypt have I called My Son."

The Circumcision of the Lord Jesus

In following our theme of circumcision into the New Testament the striking fact of the circumcision of the Lord Jesus attracts our attention. In the Gospel of Luke, which brings to light His perfect life as a man, we are introduced to a godly company of Jews who were so different from the majority of the nation. It was among this remnant that the earthly parents of the Lord Jesus were found. It must be kept in mind however, that as conceived by the Holy Spirit His birth was altogether unique. What has been looked at so far regarding circumcision is in reference to the judgment of God upon the flesh. How careful we must be when our thoughts turn to Christ. There was nothing in Him that answered to the nature of the flesh; all was holy, perfect and blameless.

As being brought up in a godly Jewish home, where the law was adhered to and loved, the child Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day. We are reminded of the words of the apostle Paul here: “ … made of a woman, made under the law” (Gal. 4:4). How wonderful it is to consider the Son of God becoming so lowly, found in obscure circumstances, and submitting to the law as a godly Israelite. It must be so if redemption is to be found for Jew and Gentile alike.

Circumcised. — Jesus, in this respect, was under the law, and He kept it, as of course, to all perfection. Man in Him was thus perfect as under law. (Luke 2:27.)

Baptized. — In this character Jesus is seen bowing to the authority of God, owning Him in His dispensations, and man in Him is perfect in all righteousness, as well as under law. (Luke 3:21.)

We now see the Lord Jesus under the law of Moses, as in the earlier verses, born of woman. For "when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising him, his name was called Jesus, which was the name given by the angel before he had been conceived in the womb." This name refers both to His being Jehovah and a Saviour, as we are told in Matthew 1:21. Here the fact simply is mentioned. Nevertheless we have here beyond what we have in Matthew — the Jewish evidence of the poverty of the holy family, as we had before the contempt of man proved in the lowly circumstances in which the Lord was born (verse 7). "And when the days were fulfilled for their† purifying according to the law of Moses,54 they brought him to Jerusalem55 to present [him] to the LORD (as it is written in the law of [the] LORD: Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD, (Ex. 13:2, 12) and to offer a sacrifice, according to what is said in the law of the LORD, a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons." (Lev. 5:11). Now, we know from the Pentateuch that this sacrifice was a provision where the parents were extremely poor. Thus Luke preserves the two traits that we have noticed as the characteristics of his Gospel. First, there is the Evangelist showing that the Lord met Israel thoroughly according to the Divine ordinances — that He was presented in the strictest compliance with the law "to the Jew first."54 The next feature is the display of moral principles manifested in all that surrounded the Lord on His coming into the world, as well as His ways in it. To the poor the Gospel is preached; and the Lord did not preach the Gospel to the poor as One who was a rich and mighty and distinguished Patron, though entitled even as man to the highest place on earth. But though He was rich, the Lord Jesus tasted what it is to be poor (2 Cor. 8:9) and despised in all its reality. It was not as a benefactor, which is the way of the world; their great ones are called benefactors, when they spare of their bounty for the destitute. As it is said, "They that exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But ye [shall] not [be] thus." (Luke 22:25f.) And as we are commanded not to act thus, on the other hand Jesus was surely not so, but the very reverse. Infinitely above all, He nevertheless took His place with the least, with the most obscure and overlooked in the land: and this, as we see, from the very beginning of His earthly course. "Him so Edd. with ℵABL, etc., about 100 cursives (as 1), Old Lat. Amiat. Goth. Memph. "The child" is found in DE, etc., Syrr. Aeth. †"Their": so Edd. after ℵABL and later uncials, most cursives, Syrr (except sin.) and versions in general, with Orig. "Her" (Lev. 12:4) of T.R., with Syrsin, has scarcely any MS. support.

Afterwards Jesus is shown us circumcised, the very offering that accompanied the act proving also still more the earthly circumstances of His parents — their deep poverty.

The ordinances of the law are seen to be carefully observed, and at His circumcision on the eighth day the child is named Jesus, the name decided by God before His conception. This too was announced to Joseph when Mary was pregnant with her firstborn (Mt.1:18-21).

After 33 days (the length of time for a woman's purification after a man-child was born -- Lev.12:4), they brought Him to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord. The law required a sacrifice with every such presentation, and though the Lord was sinless, this was done according to law. Circumcision symbolizes death, and the presentation of children to the Lord in Israel required this symbol of death. In Christianity baptism would answer to this (Col.2:11-12), and if a believer desires to present a child to the Lord, God has made the provision of baptism for such a presentation.

(1) First, He is circumcised, and receives at that time the significant name given Him before His birth — that of Jesus. He is afterwards presented to the Lord as a first-born Son; or as the law expresses it, one opening the womb. While next we hear of a sacrifice presented on the part of His mother, as to which He declares in the burnt-offering psalm, "In the volume of the book it is written of Me" (Ps. 40:7). All this we must briefly look at.

His circumcision; as the apostle says of this, makes Him "debtor to do the whole law" (Gal. 5:3). "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son; come of a woman, come under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Gal. 4:4-5). He thus pledges Himself to full legal obedience, which on His part is to have no relaxation. To others He is to be the Source of a grace which for Himself He is never to know. And the law itself marks out for Him a special place, apart from all others.

At His circumcision it is that He receives the name of "Jesus" (Jehovah the Saviour) of which it was said, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). He comes under the law as the Redeemer from under it.

And now we find that He, who came of a woman also was made under the law. The circumcision made Him "debtor to do the whole law" which He alone could fulfill; and then to redeem those upon whom the curse of the law rests, by being made a curse for us. (Galatians 3:13). The name announced before His birth is then given to the child. (Matthew 1:21). Five other persons in the Bible were named before their birth: Isaac, Genesis 17:19; Ishmael, Genesis 16:11; Josiah, 1 Kings 13:2; Cyrus, Isaiah 44:28, and John the Baptist. As the firstborn, according to His own law, He is presented unto the Lord. The required sacrifice is brought, in which is written the story of the cross. The sacrifice tells the story of poverty, for the sacrificial birds were only for the poor. "If she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtle doves, or two young pigeons." (Leviticus 12:6).

Wherever we look, Old Testament or New, it is evident that God looks for “truth in the inward parts”. “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Rom. 2:29). In the Epistle to the Colossians the words, “circumcision made without hands” are interesting. Here, in the light of Christianity, we turn away completely from what is physical and tangible to what is spiritual. Looking again at verse 11, the part we need to understand is: “the circumcision of Christ”. To what does this refer? In the previous part of this article a little was said about the circumcision of the Lord Jesus at eight days old. In no way do the words in Colossians 2:11 refer to those in Luke 2:21. The expression, “circumcision of Christ” could also be rendered, “cutting off of Christ”; words which remind us of familiar verses found in Old Testament prophecy. “For He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken” (Isa. 53:8). “And after the sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing” (Dan. 9:26, J.N.D. Trans.). Considering these two Scriptures it becomes clear that the words of Paul, “circumcision of Christ”, point to the Lord's death on the cross — the place of judgment, where He was cut off. Careful attention is needed in reading this verse. I quote it in full as it reads in Mr. Darby's Translation: “in whom also ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ” (Col. 2:11). The cross of Christ is not only the means by which our guilt has been dealt with and our sins forgiven, but it is also the means by which the flesh has been judged fully. In referring to the teaching of circumcision as we have it here, let us never forget the cost to Him that it might be so.

Again, in Colossians 2, we find another plain allusion. He says not only, "Ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power," but "in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." Thus he looks at the mighty working of divine grace in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. I need not say that the text has nothing at all to do with the historical fact of circumcision as related in Luke. It is a circumcision "made without hands;" whereas the literal act of course was done by hands. This is in contrast with it. The ordinance was an obligation for the Israelite, a figure simply, and nothing more, as to truth. But here we are told of what God had wrought in Christ and His cross, where He had dealt with everything belonging to us that was contrary to His mind.